Key U.S. lawmaker calls for new approach to Russia

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States must fix its relationship with Russia partly because it needs a partner in Moscow to help deal with Iran, the chairman of the House of Representatives foreign policy committee said on Wednesday.

In an interview with Reuters, Rep. Howard Berman also embraced a priority of his Senate counterpart, Sen. John Kerry, to increase non-military U.S. aid to Pakistan as part of a strategy to help stabilize that country.

Berman discussed his agenda for the House Foreign Affairs Committee in the new Congress, where Democrats increased their majority in November's elections and are looking forward to fellow Democrat Barack Obama taking over in the White House next week.

A key goal of Berman's is to beef up U.S. diplomacy and foreign aid, which he said had been eroded and militarized in recent years.

The California congressman called for a fresh U.S. approach to Russia, where he said the Bush administration had "stovepiped" -- or kept separate -- different, sometimes conflicting issues without deciding what was most important.

For example, the Bush administration had sought Moscow's cooperation on pressing Iran not to develop nuclear weapons -- but simultaneously angered Moscow by pushing to deploy a missile defense system near Russia's borders to shoot down any missiles fired by Iran.

"To what extent is one (U.S. policy) offsetting the other?" Berman asked. "What is our priority?"

"To have an effective strategy on Iran, we are going to need Russia as a partner," Berman told Reuters. "I do think we need some fundamental course corrections here, and I think the new administration shares that view."

NUCLEAR TIES

Russia has a number of ties with Iran, having built Iran's first atomic power station and delivered nuclear fuel there. Tehran says Moscow has also delivered air defense systems to Iran, which could help repel any Israeli or U.S. air strikes on Iran's nuclear sites.

Berman said the U.S. relationship with Moscow was very important, mentioning as examples Russia's possession of nuclear weapons and its role as a major energy supplier.

Sen. Hillary Clinton, Obama's nominee for secretary of state, said on Tuesday that if confirmed she would work to engage the Russians -- with whom she wanted to revive a key nuclear arms treaty -- as well as Iran.

Washington has led a diplomatic drive to deny Iran access to nuclear technology with bomb-making potential; Iran says its nuclear work is a peaceful project designed to generate electricity.

Clinton also said the Obama administration would seek to create "better coalitions with countries that we believe also have a big stake in preventing Iran from becoming a nuclear weapon power." Russia, to Iran's north, would presumably be one of those countries.

Berman said in recent years the United States had defined its relationship with Pakistan in terms of security assistance and given "short shrift" to economic aid that "would have been much more appreciated by the Pakistani people."

He liked Kerry's plan to push for tripling non-military U.S. aid to Pakistan, to $1.5 billion annually. "I don't know what the exact, right figure is, but I certainly share the focus," Berman said.

The Pentagon has taken over many tasks, such as reconstruction in war zones, that U.S. foreign aid workers and diplomats once handled, he said. Berman plans to introduce legislation in the spring to help restore resources to the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development.

(Editing by Jackie Frank and David Storey)